A Little Lost
by JustAnother13Lover
Summary: "Suddenly, the road seemed to turn sharply. The forceful shuddering of the car rattled the panicked woman in her seat as she tried to steer the wheel to stay on the slippery surface." [A/U, eventually Cadley]
1. Chapter One - The Storm

**A/N:** I'm new to this whole thing, so any comments, constructive criticism or requests are welcome. It would mean a lot to me.

Just a warning in advance: I may not be able to upload all of the time, since I'm always so busy with my personal life. But, I promise (if there are enough people who want me to) I'll try to upload whenever I can! It depends on your feedback. So... Let me know what you think. :)

P.S. I apologise for the slow beginning to the story... :/ I promise to try and make up for it!

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

The Storm

* * *

The storm brewed fiercely in the skies; violent black clouds mashing and thrashing together in a swirling explosion of thunder, rain and lightning. The roads were swallowed up by thick cowls of fog, making it virtually impossible for the exhausted figure to see through the windshield of her car.

She knew it wasn't safe to be driving; the rational part of her mind screamed at her to pull over. She couldn't though. She needed to get as far away as she could.

Shifting in her seat, the young woman leaned forward whilst narrowing her eyes past the loose blonde strands of her hair, out onto the uneven road. Focusing on getting away had taken her mind off the burning ache in her side, though now, the intense pain had wormed its way back to her fragile body.

The slight shift in her concentration made the car swerve on the slippery road. Tears slid down her cheek as she regained control over the small vehicle. Her shallow breaths could be heard over the rain pelting against the metal. Her head ached. Everything ached. Sleep threatened to take over her body.

She hadn't been driving for long. Five hours? Six, maybe? At this point, she wasn't so sure. She wasn't sure about anything - except the indisputable fact that she wasn't nearly far enough to convince herself that she was remotely safe.

_He_ would still be able to find her.

With a raspy cough, the young woman raised a shaky arm to her pallid face, wiping away the salt tears. She winced as her bare hand came into contact with the small, deep cut on her cheek.

The walls that she had built around her were under attack; a mix of overwhelming emotions and unwanted memories pounded obstinately, waiting for the chance to hook onto her very existence. Like poisonous tendrils: entwining and latching onto her sanity, squeezing it to a pulp.

Frustratingly, her futile attempts to slow down the palpitations coming from within her chest with deep, slow breaths only sent her into a state of nausea. Her heart burned. But even that seemed so utterly inconsequential. She had other things on her mind.

Like the perpetual need to get away; get away from everything.

The guilt started ebbing away at her, along with fear. As much as she wanted to stay, she had to get away from _him_. There was no other choice.

The violent storm - which had been threatening to hit over the last few days - had sprung to life within the half hour of the young woman leaving the city. Right now, she had no way of knowing where she was, nor did she care. If it was away from the hell that she had just fled from, then it sure as hell as a good enough start.

The weather, however, had decided to take a turn for the worst. Puddles of rainwater on the pot-holed road had begun frosting; turning into icy death traps, while the fog continued swirling around, engulfing everything in its path. At this late hour, she was one of the only drivers still out on the highway. The mist thickened as she drove on - she couldn't help the harsh sob of frustration that erupted from her chest.

Slowing down the car, the blonde brought a shaky hand up to brush away, again, at the loose strands of hair that kept falling into her face. As tired as she was, she had to keep driving; keep increasing the distance between her and him. Would any distance be far enough? It was hard to tell, through the haze of fear, guilt and confusion - not to mention the physical agony. With her eyes trained on the bumpy road, she turned up the volume on the radio. The blaring sounds were barely keeping her awake.

Driving further it became almost impossible to see through the mist, even with the fog lights. Night had already crept upon the day, covering the region in a blanket of darkness. She knew that she would have to find a place to stay the night, at least until the harsh weather died down. She had driven as far as she could right now.

Finding any type of accommodation, even just for the night, was next on her agenda. Paying with cash was a definite decision, as using the only credit card she had would make it easier to be traced - after all, the card did belong to him.

Straining her eyes, she shuffled forward to take a better look through the windshield at what lay ahead, careful to not inflict any more pain on herself. Maybe she could find a place to pull up. The young woman considered turning back towards the small village in which she had stopped to fill up the car with gas not too long ago, and seek shelter there.

Without warning, she hit an ice patch in the middle of the road, making the car swerve uncontrollably. The persistent pounding in her chest thumped erratically as she fought to gain control over the car. With an earsplitting screech, the vehicle suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the road. A few deep breathes later, she looked around through the windshield. Where was she? Her sense of direction, and hope, was lost. Only a few moments passed before she chose to just keep heading in the direction she was faced in, praying that it would take her further away from the hell in which she had just come from.

The engine sprung to life after a few failed attempts at restarting the car. Driving as quickly as she felt she could in the treacherous conditions, she came to a stop at what seemed to be a fork in the road. She turned left, down the path that seemed to be getting narrower and narrower as she carried on driving. The thoughts about the possibly of having stayed off the highway and onto a smaller road when the car had spun out of control entered her mind, after noting that she hadn't seen a direction sign for a good couple of minutes.

How long would this take? Her body was beginning to feel numb and she wasn't sure how long she would stay awake for.

Suddenly, the road seemed to turn sharply. The forceful shuddering of the car rattled the panicked woman in her seat as she tried to steer the wheel to stay on the slippery surface. The back of the car fishtailed as she pulled furiously at the wheel, only finding herself engaging in a complete skid, heading swiftly for a nearby tree.

Desperately jerking the wheel was useless.

The young woman felt the hard impact and then the sharp throbbing pain in her head followed within seconds afterwards. It took only a few more moments before her mind and body succumbed to the pain, plunging her into a world full of darkness.


	2. Chapter Two - Charade

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Well, I wanted to start off by saying that I'm absolutely shocked at how many people have read the first chapter! I honestly didn't expect it to be that much. Thank you ALL for taking the time to read it :) And, thank you for the people who'd commented, or sent me messages. I really appreciate it!

Again, I'm really sorry it took me two weeks to upload this. I've just been busy with school. *gasps* Yeah, school! I really am _that_ young, aha! I hope you all enjoy the next chapter! I should be uploading again soon, seeing as I have two weeks off school! Christmas Holidays, YAY! :D

**Disclaimer: **I don't own House. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

Charade

* * *

_Three days before._

_Three thousand miles away._

The air was cold and bitter as a brunette stepped out of a car and onto the roof of the cheap, rundown building. Her heels echoed across the desolated area as her feet hit the cement. Without a glance back, the brunette closed the car door with a flick of her wrist whilst surreptitiously glancing around from under her long eyelashes, searching for any sign of immediate danger. Upon seeing none, she placed a heeled foot in front of the other, making her way towards the far corner of the neglected car park's roof.

The black sky shone meekly with the moon's white, smudged glow whilst the stars hid behind thick cowls of clouds. Beneath the sky, the unending honks of car horns and groups of people shouting mindlessly filled in the silence. The city was always like this at night; thick with the stench of week-old pub leftovers, cigarette smoke and cheep alcohol.

Bringing up a gloved hand, the brunette tugged at the hem of her faux-fur jacket, shielding more of her body away from the wind. She reached the corner of the roof ledge and looked over the street-lamp and neon-sign lit city.

The nights were something that the brunette loved; it was continuous. Day, night. Day, night. Forever in that cyclical pattern. After every long day, the night would always take its place. Though the brunette knew that there were days where the sun's rays did not reach her, she could be sure that the darkness would always be there. The night always brings darkness. And for the woman in an inconstant world, that was comforting.

"You're early," a rough voice seemed to have knocked the brunette out of her thoughts.

"I aim to please," the brunette replied, a hint of suggestiveness in her playful tone. She turned around to set her eyes on a short, rounded man standing only a few feet in front of her. She glanced the man up and down, not bothering to conceal her actions. His cold face lit up slightly. With a step forward, she offered a gloved hand to the older man. "You must be Mr. Daniels. Pleasure."

Grasping her hand in a firm shake, the man – who looked as though he was in his late thirties – gave a small smile. He took in the view of the brunette with an approving nod. The black, tight-fitted dress hugged at her body, showing off her curves whilst the matching black heels gave her an inch of height, which made her legs seem never-ending. "The pleasure's all mine."

A few moments passed before the both of them withdrew their hands. The brunette looked at the man's face, noting the dark bags under his eyes, much like her own. She couldn't even remember the last time she had slept for more than five hours at a time. The man cleared his throat, unsure where to begin.

"Okay, let's just cut to the chase," the man began after a few awkward seconds. He glanced around the car park roof to ensure that no one was around before continuing. "We discussed the time and price over the phone. Let's just run over the… arrangement again. After I finish going over this, I will walk over to my spare car. You will follow me two minutes later; no more, no less. We'll do what you're paid for and then I'll leave the car, also leaving behind a brown envelope: your payment will be inside. You will leave exactly five minutes later, leaving the key in the passenger side glove box. Understood?"

The brunette nodded whilst narrowing her eyes slightly at the forceful tone, the look going unnoticed by the bald man. He had already turned around in the direction of a silver Audi parked a few rows away. Although the building was usually full with vehicles, the roof was usually left empty, much like today

She counted backwards from ten before swiftly following the man, regardless of his instructions. This time, her movements were silent; like a voracious tigress hunting a lost and defenseless little deer. The flirtatious and provocative charade was now gone.

The man had reached the door of the car, but the brunette had grabbed the back of his neck before he could open it. With a rough shove, she bashed his face forcefully against the cold metal frame of the car.

"What the f-"

With a yank back and another violent slam against the car, the man's sentence was left abruptly cut off. The brunette swiftly turned the man around so that they were facing each other, pinning him against the car with her left arm against the length of his collarbone. His head lolled to the side as he trickled in and out of consciousness, much like the blood trickling out of the deep laceration on left side of his upper lip.

The brunette cocked her head to the side, amused at how easy it was to send a fully grown man into a helpless mess. In a quick motion, she brought her fist inwards and up to her sides before trusting it forwards, straight into the man's abdomen. With a low groan, the man's knees buckled, sending him crashing down onto the hard concrete. The brunette stepped back just in time.

"If you want my money," he spat, clutching onto the side of his stomach, "Just take it and go."

"I'm not here for your money," she replied calmly. "Though, thinking about it, where do you get your money from? From less than ten thousand to well over two million in a day? I have to say, that's almost impressive."

The man's eyes widened, shocked at how the mysterious brunette knew his financial details.

"How do you know that stuff? W-who are you working for? Who the hell even are you?"

The man tried to push himself back up off the floor weakly, but a small shove from a heeled foot sent him sprawled back onto his front once again. Kneeling down beside the man, the brunette drew his arms behind his back still wearing the gloves. In one quick motion, she pulled out a pair of cuffs out from inside her jacket and slapped them on his wrists.

"Stop asking so many questions. It's irritating me."

Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out a small, rounded device. It was a tracker, made from plain black plastic, with a red button in the middle. She stared at the device in the palm of her hand, before glancing at the back of the man's head.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke. "Do you not feel guilty?"

"For what?" came the frustrated reply.

"Don't play dumb with me, Jonathan Daniels; age thirty-seven, single and working in a small group hacking into business security files and transferring money to a secure area. Like I said before, I'm almost impressed… Apart from the fact you were dumb enough to get caught."

There was no immediate reply from the bald man, though she could hear his shallow breaths. After a moment, he asked: "You're working with the police, aren't you?"

Laughing, almost harshly, the brunette shook her head. "No, I'm not working with the police. Just doing their damn job, since they don't seem to be doing very well at it."

Narrowing his eyebrows, the man began to speak, but was abruptly cut off.

"Oh, would you look at the time!" the brunette said in an overly dramatic tone, glad to have stopped the man's pathetic attempts to understand why she was doing this. "It was nice having this little conversation, but I really should get going."

She was about to stand up, when an amusing idea came to mind.

"Okay, let's just cut to the chase," she said, repeating the man's earlier words. "This is what's going to happen. After I finish talking, I'm going to click the button on this tracker, alerting the police of your whereabouts. You will not struggle, move or talk. Trust me, it won't be pretty if you do. Don't think about trying to run either, since you'll probably have less than thirty seconds before this area is surrounded. You'll be arrested in exactly however long it takes for them to get their asses here, and then… well, who knows? Whatever happens though, you deserve it. Stealing from business, especially ones that fund charities, is kind of a big no-no. Understood?"

The man gave a small nod, gritting his teeth. That was enough for the brunette though, as she gracefully stood from her crouched position, towering over the defeated man.

"Any last questions?" she asked, feeling slightly happier than usual. Allowing him one question before letting him be locked up for the rest of his life won't hurt.

"What's your name?"

The brunette paused. _Well, it's not exactly like I'm ever going to see him again_, she thought.

"People don't know me by my name," she stated simply, pressing the button on the tracker. Quick, annoying beeps came from the small object. The brunette turned towards a shadowy corner of the car park roof, stopping only to utter a few words.

"They know me as Thirteen."

* * *

**Note: **Soooo... A penny for your thoughts?

Yeah, so I've made Thirteen an undercover person. I think it's been done before, but yeah... I'm not quite sure where this'll end up. Anyway, I'd love to know what you guys think of it so far. Once again, I'm sorry about this chapter being late!

P.S. I'm thinking about writing the rest of the chapters in either first or second person. Personally, I've read a few second person stories, and loved it! But, I would love to know what you guys would prefer reading. Please let me know! ^^

Any feedback is welcome!


End file.
